Botanical name: Penstemon hybrid.
Cultivar name: xe2x80x98Sweet Grapexe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of a suffrutescent perennial, Penstemon hybrid, of the family Scrophulariaceae, which originated as a seedling selection from the Saskatoon Hybrids. The Saskatoon Hybrids are a hybrid seed strain involving Penstemon barbatus, P. glaber, P. clutei, P. palmeri, and others.
This new cultivar is characterized by:
1. Deep purple flowers.
2. High flower number on a tight inflorescence.
3. Persistent basal foliage with a compact habit.
4. More tolerant to winter wet soil conditions than most Penstemon.
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (division and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by tissue culture using standard micropropagation techniques with terminal and lateral shoots as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions, The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.